Seder Snippets

Dank Der Aibishter

Rebbe Shlomo Halberstam zy’a, the Bobover Rebbe of the post-Holocaust era, was a Tzadik and leader who revived his community with his resilience and faith. He restored kavod, dignity, to thousands of survivors and helped them rebuild their lives, expressing the paradigm of fatherly love, chein v’chesed, grace and righteousness.

Seder night in Bobov was majestic; thousands joined the Rebbe in the main Beis Medrash to share the mitzvos ha-layla, the unique mitzvos of the night. They would sing songs of praise into the wee hours of the morning. For all the survivors and their families, this night truly shone like the day, uplifting them with its sense of gratitude, celebration, and malchus, royalty. All felt certain that “Netzach Yisrael lo yishaker, the promise of the eternity of Klal Yisrael is true.”

 This continued until the last year of the Rebbe’s life. In his frailty and ailing health, their beloved leader was now humbly confined to a wheelchair. As he was nourished via a feeding tube, unable to drink or eat on his own, it would be impossible for him to fulfill the mitzvos of Seder Night. 

The Rebbe’s family gathered for a quiet, private Seder in his home, anxious, uncertain, and pained over their Zeide’s condition. Haunted by glorious memories of Seders past, some felt this was all too much to bear, and began to cry.

 Slowly looking up from his wheelchair into the eyes of his children, grandchildren and extended family, the Rebbe finally spoke: “Kinderlach, hehr tzu, listen well. It’s true, I can’t make Kiddush tonight, drink the arba kosos (four cups), eat matzah, the seudas Yom Tov, or the afikoman. Nonetheless, ich dank der Aibishter, I thank Hashem that He has granted me another year to experience the freedom and joy of Yetzias Mitzrayim. Teiyereh kinderlach, dear children, let us begin the Seder!” 

Focused on Freedom

Pesach is our opportunity to formally restore the main thing, as the main thing.

Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt’l writes with incredible emotion of his “experiential, not intellectual memory” of the Pesach Seder, that royal night where every one of us is charged with the obligation and opportunity to see ourselves as having been freed from bondage. For Rav Soloveitchik, the Seder was “singular…endowed with a unique and fascinating quality… exalted in holiness and shining with dazzling beauty”, where — as a child — he “surrendered to a stream of inflowing joy and ecstasy:”

“On the night of the Exodus, the Jewish People met G-d, had a rendezvous with Him, and made His acquaintance for the first time. On Pesach night, man — free, hopeful, and courageous, enhanced by fulfillment, exalted by his independence — surges forward, expands, grows, ready to accomplish all that is related to his blessedness and freedom….” 

 So often, with all the preparations, cleaning, and holiday expenses, the Haggadah vortlach, plastic frogs, Chol Hamoed plans — even the mitzvos (!) of Pesach — we can get distracted with the externals of the holiday, and forget the actual goal and real purpose of this exalted Chag: “meeting G-d, and making His acquaintance”. Beyond a new pair of Yom Tov shoes and special treats, even more than the company of our loved ones,  Pesach is a “rendezvous” between each of us and Hashem, a time to affirm our emunah and celebrate Hashem’s unconditional love for us. 

The experience of the Seder, feeling the joy of Yetzias Mitzrayim in recounting our origin story, is itself the essence of Pesach. It is central to Jewish life, identity and practice, and refocuses us on that which is absolutely core to our emunah. Descent to the lowest places of constriction and slavery is followed by our being lovingly rescued, elevated, and dramatically redeemed. Pesach is our opportunity to formally restore the main thing, as the main thing. 

Let us “dank der Aibishter”, and thank Hashem for granting us another year of “making His acquaintance for the first time”, and be zocheh to draw close and experience the freedom and joy of Yetzias Mitzrayim.

Teiyereh Yiden, dear Jews, wherever we are, let us begin the Seder!”